Israel Defense Minister Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon. Photo: Reuven Kapuscinski.

JNS.org – The Arab Peace Initiative, promoted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in his efforts to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, is nothing but “spin” that is designed to have Israel commit to certain conditions even before negotiations commence, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said on Friday in a speech before the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Ya’alon said the Arab Peace Initiative was “not a decision of the Arab League,” and reiterated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that Israeli is “ready to sit without preconditions with any initiative but without dictation.”

The initiative effectively says, “First you have to give up territory—and then we the Arabs will consider relations with you,” according to Ya’alon.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Kerry thinks the Arab Peace initiative is “significant” because it “shows a unity among several Arab nations, that they support an effort to move towards a peace plan and that they would support that if it were to be completed.”